Magic 2013 now (finally!) available on the iPad

The wait is over: Wizards of the Coast has finally brought an official, real version of Magic: The Gathering over to the iPad. Magic 2013 is now available on the App Store, and while there have been plenty of Magic-style card games before, and even an official Magic tracking app from Wizards, this is the first time that we've been able to actually play the real Magic game with official cards and everything.

This version of the game is modeled after the very popular XBLA Duels of the Plainswalkers titles (and in fact, there's a new one of those out today as well), so it doesn't offer full control over your decks. Instead, cards are divided up into decks for you, so you can only customize your decks inside of the offered options. But that's not a huge problem: This is still full-on Magic play, with a single player campaign, three decks, and the option to play Plainchase mode for free, and then lots more via in-app purchase, including more decks, challenge modes, Two-Headed Giant and custom game modes, and even, yes, online multiplayer. It's been a long time coming, but we finally have a nice full version of Magic: The Gathering on iOS.

Magic 2013 is a free download, and additional functionality can be purchased inside the app. If you're a Magic player, you've probably already headed to iTunes to grab it.